Sunday, February 29, 2004 Lake-Lehman wrestler Derek White gestured after winning the District 2 Class 2A 130 Ib. wrestling title Feb. 21. FOR THE POST/ PETE G. WILCOX Knights put opponents on the mat A Lake-Lehman captures district championship for fourth straight year By DAVE KONOPKI For The Post SCRANTON — Lake-Lehman soph- omore Joe Klemunes recorded three key pins during the District 2 Class 2A Wrestling Championships at Scranton Prep Feb. 21, helping the Black Knights capture their fourth consecu- tive team title with his third-place fin- ish. Lake-Lehman’s Matt Dragon (145 pounds) captured his third district championship during the event and was also named the tournament’s Out- standing Wrestler. Dragon, Jeremy Schutz (135), Andy Josuweit (140) and Derek White (130) each won individual titles as Lake- Lehman finished with 210.5 points to pull away from second-place Western Wayne (175). Blue Ridge (150) fin- ished third and Meyers was fourth (126). Lake-Lehman advanced five wrestlers to the Northeast Regional Tournament in Williamsport. Results ‘were not available in time for this is- sue. The Black Knights picked up seven key pins during the consolation and third- and fifth-place matches Saturday, including three by Klemunes. After los- ing in the quarterfinal round Friday night, the 171-pounder recorded four consecutive falls to earn a spot in Williamsport. “It feels like winning a district cham- pionship,” said Klemunes, who entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed with a 16-11 record. “I knew I had a chance to get some extra points and help my team win the championship. When I See WRESTLING, pg 9 Mounts claim district odiving ) By STEVE SEMBRAT For The Post WILKES-BARRE — Alaric Eby of Dallas won the District 2 Class 2A Diving Championships boys title with 482.60 points Feb. 21, in the process: | breaking the oldest of any of.the Dis- . trict 2 swimming and diving records. The old record of 478.48 was set by Michael McGinley of Bishop Hoban in 1975. “I just had the best day of my life,” Eby said. “Everything just fell togeth- ” er. & It was a tremendous day all around for Dallas, as sophomore Whitney Bolton won the girls title with 343.55 points. Sarah Rupert, a sophomore, won bronze for the Mountaineers and Shannon Dingle, a sophomore, placed 12th. “Our team has worked so hard,” Bolton said. “We put it together to- day.” Eby, also a sophomore, and Bolton earned a berth in the PIAA Class 2A diving championships set for March 11 at Penn State’s main campus. The boys and girls runner-up also got a trip to states, and the battles for second were much closer as Eby and Bolton each won by a comfortable See DIVING, pg 8 FOR THE POST/AIMEE DILGER Alaric Eby stretched into an entry during the District 2 Class 2A Diving Championships at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center Feb. 21. Eby set a record for the highest score ever by a diver in this area. Back Mt. Baseball final registration Monday Back Mountain Baseball will hold fi- nal signups for the 2004 season on Monday, March 1, 6-8 p.m. at the Dal- o. American Legion. Registration is »pen to players of all levels of play. To be eligible for signups, a player must reach the age of 6 on or before July 31, 2004. Registration fees are $45 for the first player, $30 for the second player, and $20 per player after that. Each player is being asked to either sell a box of candy, or pay an extra $20 per player. There are separate registration fees for Junior and Senior League (ages 13 and up) of $75 for the first player and $65 per player after that. There are no additional fundraisers for Junior and Senior League. If a registration form was received in the mail, complete it before coming to registration. All players must have their Social Security number on their registration form. All new players to Back Moun- tain Baseball must also bring a birth certificate to registration for verifica- tion of age. Following registration, there will be a public meeting at 8 p.m. All coaches and parents are invited to attend. Vol- unteers are still needed for coaches, umpires, concession stand and grounds. Board members will be avail- able at registration and the public meeting for questions about volun- teering and the league in general. Hettes wins District 2 Class 3A championship at 125 Ih. Dallas junior John Hettes won the District 2 Class 3A wrestling cham- pionship at 125 lb. He beat Pat Krasavage of Wyoming Valley West 9-2 in the title bout. By winning, Hettes earned an invitation to the Northeast Regional tournament. Results from that championship 0. not available in time for this ssue. John Hettes is shown at left, with teammates Josh Anderson (So. 6th place at 171 Ib.) and Morgan An- derson (Sr. 5th at 1 50). PE XXL RESTLING » HE 4 (Queenswomen shake off rust, cruise to win By JOHN ERZAR For The Post EXETER — After a slow start fol- lowing a long layoff, Bishop O'Reilly dominated Old Forge 57-30 Feb. 25 to advance to the District 2 Class A girls championship game. O'Reilly (22-3) played five-time de- fending champion Forest City (18-7) Saturday for the title. That game took place after this issue was completed. Both teams are guaranteed berths in the Class A state playoffs. In case O'Reilly needed any motiva- tion against Old Forge, a team it whipped by 29 points in December, it simply looked at a recent game be- tween the Blue Devils and Forest City. “We know they have been playing a lot better and lost to Forest City by only two in overtime,” said guard Lindsey Williams. “We knew what we had to do because we didn’t want to end our season tonight. “Our coaches told us if we lose tonight, we’re handing in our uni- forms. We didn’t want that.” The minds might have been willing, but the bodies were weak in the early going. Old Forge used some solid three-point shooting to hang with the Queenswomen through the opening minutes of the second quarter. “Old Forge came to play and they have some good shooters,” Appel said. “The layoff, you could see it in our legs. You can simulate things in prac- tice, but you don’t get the game sce- nario until you get out there.” Williams was hot from the perime- ter in the first half, scoring 10 of her 14 points as the Queenswomen took a 29-13 lead at the half. The inside game, O'Reilly’s main offensive com- ponent, eventually followed suit. Cen- ters Janelle Zabresky and Erin Ches- navich scored 14 and 11 points, re- spectively, and Zabresky added five of the team’s 15 blocked shots. This article appeared in original form in the Times Leader. Lady Mountaineers drop ball against Nanticoke Staff report Feb. 25 — Nanticoke kept its com- posure on the way to a 62-48 victory over defending District 2 Class 3A champion Dallas in a semifinal game at Wyoming Area High School. Dallas (22-5) played Berwick (18-8) Saturday for third place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division IT and a state playoff slot. Results from that game were not available in time for this issue. Dallas, which had won two of the three previous meetings, led just once — 21-20 — at 2:25 of the second quar- ter when Rosalyn Wentko tossed in a rebound. Although Nanticoke bombarded Scranton Prep with three-pointers two days earlier, Dallas knew what was go- ing to happen Wednesday. “We're only 5foot-7. We can’t play the game under the net. We could nev- er do it,” Dallas coach Joe Noon said. “All these years, we've gotten away with it and were able to force teams out.” Nanticoke wasn’t about to go to the perimeter. The Trojanettes made only three three-pointers. This game was going to be won in- side with all available players. Nanti- coke reserve center Sara Acker, a 6-1 freshman, grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked five shots and scored 10 points. Dallas tried to rattle Nanticoke in See DALLAS, pg 9 O’Reilly boys barely escape from Hannan By VAN ROSE For The Post Feb. 24 — Sophomore center Josh Aciukewicz converted a three-point play with just 32 seconds left, pro- pelling Bishop O'Reilly to a come- from-behind 63-60 victory over Bishop Hannan in semifinal action of the Dis- trict 2 Class A playoffs at Wilkes Uni- versity. “I wasn’t expecting the ball,” said the 6-foot-5 Aciukewicz, who took a pass from Mike Podcasy, then made a reverse layup and was fouled by a Bishop Hannan defender. “I thought he was going to dribble it to the bas- ket.” The Queensmen (244) faced Old Forge (21-7) for the district champi- onship Friday, with both teams ad- vancing to the PIAA tournament. That game took place after this issue was completed. See O'REILLY BOYS, pg 9 FOR THE POST/AIMEE DILGER Bishop O’Reilly’s Josh Aciukewicz shoots over Hannan's Brian Siemion during a District 2 Class A semifinal game Tuesday at the Marts Center. w
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